A power flow method suitable for solving OPF problems using genetic algorithms

This paper presents a new power flow method tailored for genetic algorithms application in solving optimal power flow problems. Generating units, the only controllable elements for which four variables are associated, were given special attention, since they influence to great extent both speed and robustness of any power flow method. In this paper, the standard procedure in which one sets the generator-bus active power output and voltage magnitude has been replaced by an innovative approach where generator-bus voltage magnitude and voltage angle are scheduled. The method relies on the bus admittance matrix, which due to applied bus ordering in layers has block tridiagonal sparse structure. A new technique for Gaussian elimination and back-substitution for such matrices has been developed. The results from five test systems have shown superiority in both time and robustness of the proposed method over the well-known fast decoupled power flow method.